Telangana stir to begin once again

HYDERABAD: With the United Progressive Alliance government missing a self-imposed deadline for a decision on statehood for Telangana, Congress leaders and lawmakers from the region are in a dilemma, with proponents of Telangana targeting their credibility.

At the same time, businesses seem to have won an assurance from Telangana supporters that their agitation will not hinder economic activity, a major worry for industrialists in the state. The leaders of political parties and groups under the banner of Telangana Joint Action Committee demanded that Congress lawmakers resign their posts and express solidarity with the movement. Led by coordinator Kodandaram and Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, the committee promised a detailed roadmap for the agitation to pressure the central government to grant statehood.

The Telangana problem has eluded a solution for decades and has led to sometimes violent protests, hurting industrial output and causing business sentiment to sour. Congress, weakened by death of its Andhra Pradesh strongman YS Rajasekhara Reddy and a challenge from his son Jagan Mohan, stands to lose in Andhra if it grants statehood and lose in Telangana if it does not.

Suchitra Ella, chairperson of the Confederation of Indian Industry in Andhra Pradesh, said the state is already reeling under tremendous stress on account of power shortages, political instability and infrastructural issues. "Industry cannot afford disruption to productivity from any fresh troubles." Industry bodies have met committee leaders and impressed upon them to ensure that the production was not affected on account of agitations, which could further drag down the state's economic growth.

"The leadership has assured that they would discourage the Telangana proponents from resorting to any form of agitations that could adversely impact industrial production," said Ella. A senior leader of the committee and a politbureau member of TRS, who did not want to be identified, said agitators were being advised not to disturb industrial activity in any way and target only leaders of Congress and other political parties.